WILTON — Santa’s helpers, in the guise of U.S. Marines and Wilton firefighters, were at work on Wednesday morning collecting Toys For Tots from various locations around town and bringing them to Devan Chevrolet/Buick for consolidation.

Over the next couple of days, upwards of 29,000 unwrapped toys, games and crafts will be distributed to different churches and charities, so that less fortunate children will get to open two presents they might otherwise not have received.

“Toys For Tots was founded in 1947 out in California,” said Henry Norley Jr., area chairman for the Marine Corps Reserve of Northwest Fairfield County. “The program went nationwide a few years later. The Marines set up 700 campaigns across the country. We are from the Marine Corps League, and I drive a school bus in Wilton. The firefighters do a terrific job, along with the police and the Devan Chevy dealership. There are 10 other locations that collect toys.”

“Last year we did 29,000 toys, and we give out two toys per child,” Norley Jr. said. “That means 14,500 kids had a happy Christmas. We have eight towns in our area, and Wilton is very generous. This (truckload) is 5 percent of what will happen in Wilton.”

Norley Jr. hates to put a Scrooge-like deadline on an act of such generosity, but these volunteers have children, too.

“We pull all the (collection) boxes as of (Dec.) 19th,” Norley Jr. said. “This gives us a chance to sort the toys and get them to the kids so the volunteers can be with their families on Christmas. We always have stragglers. Fortunately, we have a Hispanic society in Danbury and Norwalk, and they take any late toys for ‘Three Kings Day’ on Jan. 15. They give out toys that day.”

Norley Jr., who joined this detachment 19 years ago, and began running the operation in 2008, appreciates hearing the after-stories.

“This is terrific,” Norley Jr. said. “The social workers that come in say this is nice, and they send us pictures of the kids getting the toys. They invite us to the events. It is rewarding to hear the follow-up. For us, this is our signature program. This is the most rewarding thing we do all year.”

The gifts are sorted into categories: toddlers, girls, boys, games, crafts and sports.

Volunteers are laying out the collected goodies in Ridgefield, and Norley Jr. said it is getting packed.

“The toys go to specific charities, and some churches that need help with their ‘giving tree,’” Norley Jr. said. “Sometimes we fill needs for mothers who are in prison.”

Norley Jr. thanked the Wilton fire and police departments for their assistance.

“Everybody in the fire department is involved, and the police department helps,” Norley Jr. said.

Firefighter Brian Elliott said the department has been hauling toys around town for close to four decades, while he has been running the program for the past eight years.

“Devan is the staging area for most of Wilton, and we’re probably at the point where most toys have been collected,” Elliott said. “I always say we see some of the worst that happens to people, and we also see people in need. There is nothing better than knowing we have helped make Christmas happier for some families.”

Cindy Schacht, director of Bright Horizons at Wilton, loves the idea that Toys For Tots gives her day care students their first taste of altruism.

“We helped the firefighters collect toys,” Schacht said. “We put out a box, and we took huge bags of toys out of it. The big box in the lobby was a reminder, and there are still a few (toys) left in it. It’s good for the kids to see the toys going out the door. Kids picked out the toys in the store with their families and physically put the toys in the box, then watched the firefighters collect them. I heard parents tell the kids ‘this is for kids who don’t have toys.’ They are learning.”

In this crazy, disconnected world, it is refreshing to hear someone still get choked up by the thought of holiday charity.

“Seeing that truck brings tears to your eyes that less fortunate children are going to have a nice Christmas,” Schacht said. “We are never going to say no. I have been involved for my two years (at Bright Horizons). The center has been there since 1999, so I believe it has been involved for several years.”